FUKUSHIMA--The government has agreed to
FUKUSHIMA--The government has agreed to
Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara and Reconstruction Minister Takumi Nemoto presented the revised plan to Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato at the prefectural government office on March 27.
“We, again, ask for your cooperation based on the new plan to consolidate the facilities in two towns,” Ishihara told Sato and representatives from eight municipalities located near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant that was crippled by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
The prefectural government asked Naraha to be excluded as a candidate site because residents from the town are expected to be allowed to return in the not-too-distant future.
According to the revised plan by the Environment Ministry, new facilities will only be built in Okuma and Futaba, which co-host the Fukushima No. 1 plant. Those facilities will take the waste that was to be stored in Naraha.
After the meeting with Ishihara and Nemoto, Sato told reporters that it is still premature to hold meetings to explain the plan to residents, something the government said it is planning.
Prefectural government officials said more discussions are needed on the grounds that the government’s replies to other prefectural requests were unsatisfactory.
Futaba Mayor Shiro Izawa, who was present at the meeting, was critical about regional development proposals from the government.
Even though the government said it will “take necessary fiscal measures” for regional development, it only said it will present concrete steps as soon as possible.
“We were looking forward to more concrete measures,” Izawa said. “But the government’s reply lacks specifics. That is not acceptable.”